The Freak Show: Haemonculi based armies

Well kids I tried out an army concept I have been pondering since my first glimpse of the Dark Eldar Codex. The “Freak Army”. This is a purely themed army list that is lead by a coven of haemonculi. The base of this army is of course Wracks. Wracks are the heavily and horrifically modified servants of the Haemonculi. Some are actually volunteers others, well lets just say they weren't willing subjects.

Supplementing the wracks are units of Grotesques. I was only able to include one Chronos Parasite Engine because my trial game was 1500 points. I may not include more as you will see why in a bit.

I faced off Against the Storm Lord and his Necron army. We played a 1500 point pitched battle for kill points. I deployed my three Wrack units in Raiders on the table and kept the Grotesque unit in reserve along with the Chronos. After moving flat out in turn one strait towards the Necrons with two of the raiders I got fairly close with the 3^rd and disembarked the Wracks. The Haemonculis leading them was equipped with a Webway portal so I could deploy the big boys close to the enemy. The whole strategy was to get close and get into hand to hand as quickly as possible. Which I did. I did loose some Wracks, but in the first two turns I took out lots of warriors, a tomb spyder and inflicted some wounds on the Night Bringer. Ultimately One of the Wrack units actually killed the C'Tan. The 4+ poison close combat weapons they have are very nice for laying into targets bigger than them. They are a bit disappointing against soft targets like Guard, Tau and other Eldar but effective none the less.

If not for the uncanny ability of the Storm Lord to roll “we'll be backs” I think I could have tabled him. This was not the case as it seems his knowledge of his army has increased quite a bit and he kept his lord out of reach. Also I could not really hurt the monolith. 3 dark lances is just not enough for that beast. The Game ended in only 5 turns and I was edged out by a kill point.

So what did I learn from this rather close game? Well first I was surprised by how well the list actually did. The Wracks when lead by a Haemonculis is sitting pretty with two pain tokens right off the bat. Granted this is not a big deal having furious charge as you have the poison weapons but the 5 initiative is very nice. The Grotesques on the other hand, it is a big deal. This increases their strength to 6 on the charge. The unit of 6 I took had both my Haemonculis Ancients in it. They were devastating to whatever they charged into. The toughness of 5 really gives them an edge and combine that with 3 wounds and its pretty nice. Of course they have no save other than a FNP roll. When you have the Haemonculi armed with agonizers and liqufier guns, then add a liqufier gun to the unit of Wracks it is very bad for whatever squad you attack, as Long as you roll decently for the AP and strength of the gun.

The list is very all or nothing. If you get mired down and can't get close you might as well scoop. This type of themed army is a little weak against tanks as you only have 3 or 4 dark lances and possible a couple monstrous creatures to destroy vehicles. I am going to tweak the list a little and get it up to 1850 and try it out at our FLGS Evolution Games today and see how it stacks up against Space marines and Guard. I may take out one of the Haemonculis Ancients so I can squeeze in 2 talos and some Scourges. I think the scourges fit the freak theme as they are also products of the twisted haemonculi. I actually like how this list works. It is not quite a bland as the Kabalite lists I have been running. It has a lot of character and has lots of modeling potential. I will get it up to 1850 and report later this week how it did.

I will also be working on my Craftworld Adepticon list as I have a few tweaks to do with it as well. I have to get in some games vs guard and space wolves as me thinks I will be seeing a lot of them at the convention.

One more bit as well. Granted I could care less, but apparently blood angels is getting a second wave. Rumor has ti the storm raven will be dropping in February and boy is it ugly. More Importantly than that the Dark Eldar fliers will be dropping not that long after. It would seem GW has plans for a flier based expansion. Think spearhead like. I guess we will have to see what happens. I am still crossing my fingers that Grey Knights does not drop before the cutoff to use them in Adepticon. Granted even if they do people will be hard pressed to learn the nuances and get miniatures ready.

Well off to the FLGS for some 40K . I will have some bat reps and tidbits later in the week

Until then....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!